The Stardust Promotion agency has a large stable of girls aged 8-18 in their Section 3 that they call "3B junior" (I think the idea is that they're all in the same grade and class--Year 3, Class B--but that means some of these girls have been held back, and some are really smart!) A lot of these 54 girls are probably just training to be regular talent, but some seem to be starting to release idol music.

Momoiro Clover

Momoiro Clover (the first time I saw their katakana, I read it as 'Momoiro Crowbar". Yes, I'm an idiot) released their debut single last week called "Momoiro Punch". You can see the PV here or on this youtube link I just found. They wear yukata and the song incorporates sorta traditional Japanese instrumentation.

The girls range from 13-16; and, although they just released their debut, they've been around for over a year performing "street lives" and other shows with 3-B Jr girls. They have more songs than just the three on their new single, and they've been around so long that they even have five former members already. One was Takai Tsukina who went on to SKE48 and will now be quitting that as well. Two of the former members were moved to another Section 3 group, creamy parfait which was formed at the very end of 2008. Apparently creamy parfait has 2 singles, but I can't really tell that they were major releases. I think their first single, at least, was for some anime.

Momoiro Clover's second single, "Mirai e Susume", is coming out this week, and their PV is available on youtube! The song is in the same vein as their first single, and I really like the sound that they give these girls. Watch out for the hideous make-up of the girl in blue. Just like their first PV had an amusing part come from nowhere, watch out for this one.

"But, wait, Em-El! Idols aren't about music! In fact, I hate music! How do you expect me to like this group without any other information?"Well, have I got a what you need!

To learn more about the girls, watch their appearance on BUGROO (a show which has previously featured Sayumi and Momoko): Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Also, here is an amazing video of the girls when they are first told their single was 11th on the daily charts. There is much emotion, one girl is crying way too much.

I liked the first single a lot. The second one... ehhhh, not as much. But it's not bad. And the girls all look significantly less hideous than they did in their first single except for the girl with the tranny makeup. Yeesh.

I liked the song you linked in your first post. :3 the little traditional bits draw me in even though they sound like they're yell singing. I like the song more than the PV. That background washes out the girls. What the hell is wrong with the director? If he knew there was going to be a peach motif, why the hell did he allow the background to be almost the same color as the girls' outfits? Aarrrggghhh.

The "No 11" vid was so sweet and adorable! I love it when idols get all teary eyed when something good happens. Awwwww!

And the girls all look significantly less hideous than they did in their first single except for the girl with the tranny makeup. Yeesh.

Hell with you, she gets spunk points for doing something different! It would've looked better if she made up her entire face (a stronger color on the lips, trimmed her eyebrows a bit, used a stronger mascara/fake eyelashes to make her eyes really pop, used something in the corners of her eyes instead of bringing the blue out more, and done something with the half uncovered makeup on her lower lid. Actually pausing a frame makes me think she put her blue on after her mascara...how odd. The blue bits seemed trapped in her lashes) BUT I'm amazed to see a color other than white eyeliner on an idol's face.

I also liked the girl (is it the same one? I don't think it is but...) that did the weird poses in her glamour bits. God I'm such a sucker for weird idols. They look so much better in the schoolgirl outfits than the typical idol frufru junk. I loved how she just strolls up and BAM in the face!The extra take at the end seals the deal. They have a little humor to their PVs, I love that! Makes them seem more fun and less SERIOUS AIDORU/SERIOUS BUSINESS. The song is okay, it's not as catchy to my ears as their first, but I'll give it a chance to grow on me because their personas are fun.

I agree with both of you that their debut single was better than this one, but it was one of the b-sides I really started to like. So hopefully this release won't be as much of a damn pain to track down as the first one was. I really liked the costumes in their first PV because they mirrored the song in that they were a mixture of a traditional thing turned into something idolish.

I loved how she just strolls up and BAM in the face!The extra take at the end seals the deal. They have a little humor to their PVs, I love that! Makes them seem more fun and less SERIOUS AIDORU/SERIOUS BUSINESS.

Yeah, that was my favorite part of the first video when all of a sudden their microphones are fruit! For no reason! And it only lasts for a split-second. I suppose the spoiler tags are silly, but both videos amused me so much when I didn't know it was going to happen.

Unfortunately all their live clips on youtube seem to be lip-synched, so there's no point in watching them.

And there is more bawling and outright howling by the girls when they find this out in the 15 minute video that Stardust put on youtube. I love that Stardust has an official youtube channel. Idol bawling is amusing.

Edit: Oh hey! I just saw that yozuca* wrote the lyrics to Mirai e Susume. I met yozuca* at Anime Expo and got my picture with her!

It looks llke they're trying to muscle into Perfume's territory with Creamy Parfait. Here's the full PV of their first single. It's pretty reminiscent of early Perfume, from the music to the outfits and their signature maypole dance. Pretty good tune, though.

New Momoiro Clover single, and it's really, really good. It has some lame parts to it (The rap parts), but the rest is really nice. And the PV isn't bad either. It doesn't stray too much from their other 2 singles, but it's at least entertaining.

I was going to say that this song lacks the simple idolness that I liked from the first two. The music and the refrain (or whatever part of the song it is in the PV where they look like their normal Momoiro selves) still retain some of the playfulness though. But yes, overall, it's a very good song.

The PV is pretty good too. I like that each of their PV has had an awesome moment, and a surprise ninja battle during the musical interlude counts I think.

I am surprised that this is being called their major debut though. Their last single made it to number 11 on Oricon, and I didn't think that anyone was thinking of those releases as indies at the time. I guess the jump to Universal is quite the bigger label than before though. It's also the opening theme to "Rank Oukoku" some otaku show that comes on late Saturday nights when non-nerds are out having fun. I guess I'll be watching it tonight.

There's a preview of the b-side [url="http://"http://www.universal-music.co.jp/universalj/artist/momokuro/discography.php"]here[/url]. And, yes, there is a separate version of the single for each member's face...

I'm going to get smacked for saying this, but this song feels really AKB48-esque to me - which, coming from me, is a compliment, since AKB48 is one of the few idol groups that actually gets to be on my iPod, haha. There also aren't any solos that make me want to pull my hair out (like every Maasa, Maimi, or Saki solo ever )

I'm going to get smacked for saying this, but this song feels really AKB48-esque to me

I thought the same thing. It's mostly in the verses though, and I think it's what I was thinking when I said it lacked the complete playfulness of their previous songs. But the fun is still there in the song, and I like this song a lot more than I did when I first listened to it. Even just on the second listen, my enjoyment went way up.

I feel bad for not knowing anything about them.

For a while there in November, this thread was like one of the only English sources of information on them. It was second only to CDJapan for searching "Momoiro Clover" instead of their Japanese name. I know I had nothing to work with when I was writing it. Now at least there are threads on other forums and blog posts from a few other English-speaking idol fans.

I really like this for the most part. The chorus is a bit pedestrian, but the arrangement is very nice.

The karaoke version really shows the cleverness of the arrangement. The use of sound effects doesn't feel gimmicky at all and pretty much were made to flow with the song.

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Now I'm going to write a long report about their live events that I went to yesterday, so stop reading if you don't care. Short version: they are extremely fun and seeing no-name idols is pretty great when they are allowed to have a measure of freedom.

There were two live events that day. In the first one, another Stardust group Shiritsu Ebisu Chuugaku performed a few songs to open. As you may guess from their name, EbiChu is a bunch of a young middle school girls. They can't really sing, but at least one of their songs is good. I probably should have figured out a way to buy their only (very indies) single at the goods table because I think the song I liked was that one. As for now all there is is this year-old youtube video of some other song. During their MC, it was Q&A time from the crowd. They were asked their favorite entertainer, and they all started naming Momoiro Clover girls, so whoever they named started poking their heads out of the backstage curtain to wave and say thank you every time. It was cute.

Then Momoiro Clover came on and performed a really long set considering the admittance was 2000 yen which included the CD and a photo. They even included covers of AKB's "Oogoe Diamond", a duet of "Iiwake Maybe" and Suzumiya Haruhi's "Saikyou Pare Parade". At the end of the show they threw out signed bouncy balls into the crowd. The friend I made in line at the show, pointed toward me since he knew it was my first time seeing them, so Shiori actually walked up and handed it to me. It has Reni's signature, even though it's already starting to fade. Unfortunately Akari and Momoka were pregnant sick. Reni also kept coughing during the after show events.

After the live part was done, there was a handshake/talk event. These weren't nanosecond events either; it felt like an eternity to someone who can barely speak Japanese. I went to see Reni first, and started off by telling her my Japanese sucks, but I liked them anyway. She responded with "I can't... speak English well." So I told her she was good at English and she responded with "Oh? Good!" Later we ran into a communication problem, so I told her "sumimasen, wakarimasen..." and she responded with "Don't worry! dai.jou.bu."

I went to see Shiori next, and she is adorable. First I thanked her for the ball, but told her I can't really speak Japanese. She told me "I speak a little English." (I like how they all assumed I spoke English. Maybe I was Italian?) She told me her favorite subject was English, so I told her I teach English. She said "Oh! Please teach me English... uhhh... wakaranai! Eigo oshiete kudasai!" How adorable. She said the English perfectly, but still thought she messed up. So, I told her she was good at it, and she asked "Really... um... really?" I told her yes, of course.

I saw Kanako next, and although she didn't speak any English to me, she seemed excited when I came up to know that there was a foreigner at their show. I communicated with her as best as I could with my Japanese. As I passed by EbiChu on the way back to my seat, I heard a "sugoi" from them. Yes, a non-Japanese dude likes idols! When we were leaving, all the girls said arigatou to each person leaving, but Reni had the presence of mind to say "thank you" to me.

Between the shows I went to go find food in the mall area where the theatre was. After eating, I was coming out of the bathroom, and turned the corner where all of a sudden I hear a bunch of schoolgirl "OHHH!" from down the hall. (It was exactly the same way my students act when they see me outside of school.) Apparently Momoiro Clover and their staff were heading out to do stuff in Akihabara between shows, but I didn't recognize them at first because they had changed clothes. In any case, they were all "COME AGAIN!!!" after they saw me. So I gave them a thumbs up.

For the second show I had randomly picked the number 2, which meant I got to sit in the front row (I picked 6 the first time but was late). This time they performed in pajamas, instead of their kimono/school skirts. Shiori also came out in a blonde wig. For fun? Because there was no EbiChu this time, Momoiro Clover had a longer show with an encore. I was disappointed that they never performed "Momoiro Punch" but instead went with performing their new single yet again in the same show. It's fun live though. Instead of a ninja battle, the musical interlude included Kanako doing two front handsprings and a back one. Because I was in the front, I got the full effect of idol dance moves designed to flirt with the audience. Reni's points and smiles kept coming toward me, but she does that to all the boys. I don't know if it was because of me, but Shiori decided to use English in every single MC. (No, it wasn't for me, of course, when she weares the blond wig, it's her Catherine character or something. I don't know, this was my first time seeing it.) First after everyone did their "konbanwaaaa" for the audience to repeat, she said "Good morning!.... Good evening! Ah? Good afternoon!! eigo wakaranai... Good afternoon!" Nobody responded but me, so she held the mic out to me to say it louder. The crowd went yaay.

Okay this is getting ridiculous, so I'll stop here even though there's more. But basically Shiori is adorable. And Reni is awesome. The whole group is fun.

Firstly and most importantly is their new single at the end of August (I think). They've been singing it live for a while, and I think it's the single since they do say "Momoiro Clover" in it. They love singing their name? It's called Zenryoku Shoujo (live version). A few weeks ago they started performing a song called "Orange Note." I don't know if it's the b-side, but it involves Akari rapping and doing the robot! But who knows, Momoiro Clover has a whole bunch of staples of their live shows that aren't on any CD.

Secondly, I think there's some TV show. It's called "Geinou Survival MomoClo Assault! Spirit Spot!" ...roughly. I don't really know, but they showed a clip of them being scared out of their minds (and crying, yay!). Then they completely scared them again by saying, "no wait, you're gonna be in a movie called Shirome." I think. Blair Witch style or something. I could've been a supporter of the movie by throwing away some money to get my name in the credits and a special behind-the-scenes DVD and other fun adventures.

Lastly, of slight interest to this board, Momoiro Clover will have a joint concert with SKE48, S/mileage, and bump.y for two days at the end of August.

Firstly and most importantly is their new single at the end of August (I think). They've been singing it live for a while, and I think it's the single since they do say "Momoiro Clover" in it. They love singing their name? It's called Zenryoku Shoujo (live version). A few weeks ago they started performing a song called "Orange Note." I don't know if it's the b-side, but it involves Akari rapping and doing the robot! But who knows, Momoiro Clover has a whole bunch of staples of their live shows that aren't on any CD.

Yay for a new single!!! I hope Akai gets to rap in a bit in English. Her English ability is amazing (based what I saw on TV).

Did you go to the live in Shibuya today? I wanted to go but I was stuck in Akibahara all day.

Did you go to the live in Shibuya today? I wanted to go but I was stuck in Akibahara all day.

I did go, but I was only able to get a ticket to the first show when I bought it a long time ago. It was very crowded and I kept getting smashed against the railing (especially to avoid Momoka-wota sweat), but girls get special areas to not be smooshed. It's okay, though, because the girls know my name and I won something cool from the goods table that will be delivered to me (I don't know what it is yet since I couldn't understand).

As for English ability, Shiori wins hands down. Reni tries hard, Akari is okay, Momoka and Akari can do greetings, and Kanako is terrible (but still a nice person... idol. Idols aren't people).

Okay, so clearly don't know anything about Momoiro future plans, since a few weeks ago they announced the preview of their new song would be yesterday. So not "Zenryoku Shoujo" not "Orange Note" but "Coconuts" will be their new single. It's a tie-in for their movie, which is amazing since the movie is a "horror" movie, but the song is so summer. But that's Momoiro Clover for you.

The full song will be out 8/11 (and with a solo version from each member, yay for stealing wota's money).

Oo~ I like this song! It's very cute! I hope there will be a super cute PV to go along with it! Is anyone else hearing a similar tune to "Ikuze! Kaitou Shoujo" in the the 'cococococococococococo" parts? At first I though "this song is not very Momoiro Cloverish" but then they started singing and it was so Momoiro Clover-y. Haha

Now I like this song. It's totally insane and gives me a young H!P vibe. I find Momorio Clover to be a very refreshing idol group compared to the overpowering AKB48 with their sex sells image they've had for the last few singles. And Morning Musume which have no clue what they seem to be doing anymore.

Is anyone else hearing a similar tune to "Ikuze! Kaitou Shoujo" in the the 'cococococococococococo" parts?

I'm not quite sure what part you're talking about, but I feel like the rising "doo doo doo" that happens throughout the song seems like it's straight from "Ikuze".

But then the song turns insane and I stopped noticing it in favor of things like: r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-limbo!

1:14-1:36 in the preview.

Now I like this song. It's totally insane and gives me a young H!P vibe. I find Momorio Clover to be a very refreshing idol group compared to the overpowering AKB48 with their sex sells image they've had for the last few singles. And Morning Musume which have no clue what they seem to be doing anymore.

Yes I agree! They are very refreshing! I'm hoping one of these days Tsunku has Dance*Man come back to compose a new MM single.

Agreed too! More and more I've been enjoying Momoiro Clover, and I'm very happy to see how active they are. I hope they will keep on releasing good things although I know my liking for them will diminish as soon as the freshness is gone...

Ah, yes, Momoiro Clover has finally announced single plans other than a cell-phone release. The new single will finally be released! November 10!

What took so long? Probably because they're switching record companies (again). They are now with King Records. And how did they announce this? By getting married to them of course.

Ah, youth. Nothing better than getting married at 14.

Anyway! The release will be called "Pinky Jones" and it's touted as having three songs that all tie-in to something. "Pinky Jones" is the ending theme for an anime called Yosuga no Sora (looks like one of those porn-game-turned-tame-anime, hooray). "Coconuts" is, of course, the theme song for their movie Shirome, and the third track is a game theme. (Probably a porn game, hooray! Just kidding. Who knows.)

"Pinky Jones" has to be the title track, since this got pushed back so much that the summer song of "Coconuts" just wouldn't work. But the three different limited versions will each have a different PV. One for each song. But now you can see a long preview of the Coconuts PV at the MomoClo official website: http://official.star....co.jp/momoclo/

Okay, let's talk about the Coconuts outfits. I couldn't believe them when I first saw them on stage. The little plastic bras added to the sailor outfits turn them from "cute" to "cheap costume for prostitute". It's what I'd imagine if I chose the "Sailor Moon course" at the local brothel. But the next time I saw them, I was far closer to the stage, and saw that the plastic bras were filled with fruit. So now I love them. The plastic parts added to the skirts also look terrible because they ride up while they dance, and the girls have to keep pushing them down. Also the costumes are clearly designed to show some belly, but only Akari seems to be able to wear it right. The other girls are too short (or in Reni's case her skirt is pulled too high whenever I saw them, but she looks fine in the current banner picture on the website).

That PV preview actually used to be a trailer for Shirome on the website. The DVD comes out on September 24. Here is the trailer. (Yeah, I'm sort of visible in that crowd if you know where to look.)